Thursday, 23 July 2015

You’ve Translated Your Website. What’s Next?Blog by Judd Marcello

So, you’ve made your store’s website
accessible internationally, at least in the regions in which you’re aiming to
grow your presence – congrats! But if you think it’s now just a matter of
watching customers from all over the globe immediately stream in, I’m sorry to
be the bearer of bad news:

Translation’s only the first step.

It’s an incredibly important step, of course,
but to really take advantage of translation and truly engage retail customers
in varying countries and cultures, you must do more. Here are some of the next
steps you should take.

Localize!

All the content on your site – marketing
materials, product descriptions, even tabs and buttons – must be tailored
specifically to the region and culture you’re targeting. Successfully
localizing your site requires research and an understanding of the behaviors,
values, and needs of local consumers. Then, you must adapt your already
established brand voice to meet those requirements. Personalizing content not
only makes your site and business more inviting to new international customers,
but it also helps to avoid translation mistakes that can hurt your
reputation—occasionally, beyond repair.

This is relevant to images and styles on your
website as well – visual items are the first thing most visitors will notice on
your site, and if they push the customer away (or offend them), there won’t be
anyone around to read the carefully-translated text, or buy anything. It’s also
important to keep in mind that communication styles vary around the world—so
keep your brand consistent, but tweak the message as needed to make sure it
aligns with the intended cultural context.

Bring people there.

You’ve made the site relevant and hospitable
to your target customers, but you still need to get them there. Use marketing,
social media, and make sure all outreach adheres to the same principles of
localization and translation that your website has been privy to in order to
drive people to your site. Partner with local or international influencers to
gain access to an already-established audience, and build further credibility
by association.

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